Jimmy Carter

James Earl "Jimmy" Carter Jr. (1 October 1924-) was President of the United States from 20 January 1977 to 20 January 1981, succeeding Gerald Ford and preceding Ronald Reagan. Carter previously served as Governor of Georgia (D) from 12 January 1971 to 14 January 1975, succeeding Lester Maddox and preceding George Busbee. Carter's single term in office was rife with bad luck, as the USA faced "stagflation", an energy crisis began, the Iran hostage crisis occurred in response to the US support for Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi during the 1979 Iranian Revolution, a nuclear accident occurred on Three Mile Ended, and detente ended in response to the start of the Soviet-Afghan War.

Biography
James Earl Carter Jr. was born in Plains, Georgia on 1 October 1924, and he enlisted in the US Navy in 1943, attending the Naval Academy from 1943 to 1946 before serving on nuclear submarines. In 1953, he left the navy to work as a peanut farmer, and Carter and his family became supporters of President John F. Kennedy and the Democratic Party. In 1963, Carter was elected to the Georgia State Senate from the new 14th district, serving until 1967, when he launched a failed run for Governor of Georgia; his cousin Hugh Carter succeeded him in the State Senate. In 1970, Carter ran for governor again, this time branding himself as a conservative and populist; he opposed the liberal Democratic politician Carl Sanders, who he nicknamed "Cufflinks Carl" for his wealth. Carter appealed to the state's African-Americans by meeting with Martin Luther King, Sr. and Andrew Young and visiting black businesses, while he also appealed to white conservatives by praising George Wallace, changing his views on public education with each new audience, and handing out photos of Sanders celebrating with black baseball players. Once he won the election, Carter denounced racism, and black state senator Leroy Johnson once said that he understood why Carter ran an ultra-conservative campaign, as it was not likely for a person to win the governorship without being racist.

Carter did not get along well with his segregationist lieutenant-governor and predecessor Lester Maddox, having betrayed the racist white faction of Georgia politics, and the legislature found him frustrating to work with due to his reluctance to engage in political favors and back-slapping. Carter expanded the number of black state employees, judges, and board members during his term, and he branded himself as a supporter of the Civil Rights movement. He left office in 1975, and he decided to run for president in 1976. He won the nomination due to his obscurity, as the party wanted a fresh face to run for president. Carter defeated Republican Party challenger Gerald Ford in the close 1976 general election, and he became President on 20 January 1977.

Carter advocated social conservatism and fiscal conservatism with liberal stances on war, energy, and education, and he pardoned all Vietnam War draft dodgers on his second day in office, created the Department of Energy and the Department of Education, established a national energy policy that advocated price controls, conservation, and new technology, brokered peace between Egypt and Israel in 1978, negotiated the return of the Panama Canal to Panama, and supported the SALT II treaty with the Soviet Union. However, he faced high inflation, high unemployment, and slow growth during his time in office (the "stagflation" phenomenon), and the end of his presidency saw the Iran hostage crisis, an energy crisis, the Three Mile Island nuclear accident, the Soviet-Afghan War, the suspension of detente, and the boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. His popularity declined due to the various calamities that struck the USA late into his term, and he was defeated for re-election by Republican nominee Ronald Reagan in the 1980 election.

Carter became a human rights advocate after leaving the presidency, and he advocated for a two-state solution in Palestine, supported peace negotiations, oversaw election processes, and took part in disease prevention and eradication in the developing world. He also opposed Citizens United and their successful US Supreme Court case, which allowed for corporations to buy power in the government.